Derwood



( 0 Mod MOTTU PLAT No. 482,662. Patented Sept.'13, 1892.

W- .9.568; we'd-or:

Ihvrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES MARCUS UNDERIVOOD, OF HAMILTON, CANADA.

MOTTO-PLATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 482,662, dated September 13, 1892. Application filed March 14, 1892- serial No. 424,878. (No model.) Patented in Canada April 22, 1892, No. 38,787.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES MARCUS U N- DERWOOD, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Hamilton, county of Wentworth, Province of Ontario, and Dominion of Canada, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Inscription or Motto Plates, of which the following is a description, (and which has been patented to me in Canada under Letters Patent dated April 22, 1892, No. 38,787,) reference being had to the ac companying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved inscription or motto plate embodying my invention with a part of the letter-plate broken away, showing the depressed panelplate, the perpendicular slit or hole through the plate, and the letter-plate holder having letter-plates and blank-plates fastened arou nd the letter-plate holder. Fig. 2 is the letterplate holder having a letter-plate clasped around it. Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the plate, letter-plate holder, and letter-plate at X X. Fig. 4 is a letter-plate, showing the ends bent downward, having a letter on its face surface used in connection with my improved plate. Fig. 5 is a blank plate, ends bent down, used to fill up vacancies on the letter-plate holder.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of my invention is to provide a plate in which the letter-plates used in making up' the name, motto, &c., may be more easily adjusted and more securely fastened in the plate and is designed for use on coffins, doors, cupboards, duo.

It consists of a plate having one or more depressed panels for the reception of a letterplate holder with letter-plates clasped around, used in making up the inscription, and is more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings,A represents the plate.

13 is a depression in the surface of the plate to provide for the thickness of the letterplate holder and letter-plates, so that the face of the letters and surface of the plate may be on a level with each other.

C is a perpendicular slit or hole through the plate at each end of the panel-plate B.

D is the upper surface of the letter-plate holder.

E is a projection (used to fasten the letterplate holder in the plate) bent down at right angles on each end of the letter-plate holder, and may also have one or more in the center, with corresponding slits C in the plate, should occasion require.

F is a letter-plate.

G is a blank plate.

H is a bent-down end of letter-plate and blank plate used to fasten the letter-plate and the letter-plate holder together.

The several parts used may be of any material, preferably of some soft metal, that can be pressed or cast into shape, as copper, tin, brass, disc. The depressed panel in the plate may be dispensed with should the design require it.

To set up the name, place the letter-plate holder on a setting-up block, made of cast-iron, longer than the longest letter-plate holder, its face or top side the same width as the letterplate holder, having on its face surface a slot or groove its entire length large enough to allow the bentdown prongs, ends, or fastenings E E of the letter-plate holder to drop into and the letter-plate holder to rest flat and solid on setting-up block. Then place the letter-plates required in making up the inscription in their proper places 011 surface D of the letter-plate holder with their bentdown ends H H dropping over and below the sides of the letter-plate holder. Then fill up the vacant spaces (if any) on the letter-plate holder with blank plates same way as the letter-plates. This done, place a turning-down block (having a groove its entire length, leav- 'ing a small surface to bear on the letterplates above and below the letters) over the letter-plates. Then while held together invert the whole and remove the setting-up block, leaving the letter-plates in an inverted position in the turning-down block with the letter-plate holder on the letter-plates and between the bent-down or now bent-up ends of the letter-plates H H. Then turn or bend these ends inward and down firmly, thus fastening the letter-plates and letter-plate holder securely together. Now press the prongs E E of the letter-plate holder through the slits C C in the plate and give them a sharp bend on the back or under side of the plate, which is now ready for use.

Should a mistake be made in setting up the plate, it can be corrected in a few minutes by raising or straightening up the projections E E on under side of the plate. Taking the letter-plate holder from the plate, make the required alteration. Then return the letterplate holder and fasten it in the plate, as before.

I am aware that prior to my invention there was adoor-plate made usingletters with prongs at thetop andbottom to passthroughlongitudinal parallel slits through the plate and bend over and between notches on back side of the plate, showing when ready for use an opening through the plate the whole length of the depressed panel, except where covered by these prongs. Besides being unsightly, these parallel slits through the plate allow the surface of one part to be raised above or sunk below the others. I

My improved plate differs from the above plate, viz:

First. The letters used are made on thin plates and do not show the letter-plate holder underneath the letter; also, the plates themselves are bent down at the top and bottom. These ends bend down and underneath the letter-holder, making when placed side by side an almost unbroken straight-line top and bottom, no letters twisted round or crowded too close or drawn too far from each other by the prongs of the letters not registering properly together with the notches underneath the plate.

Second. My plate being made of one continuous piece must keep the depressed panel at its proper depth.

Third. My plate has a letter-plate holder, and when filled with letter-plates and placed in the depressed panel of the plate just fills the space, leaving no broken unsightly-looking slits or holes through the plate. The letter-plates being placed, adjusted, and fastened together on the letter-plate hold er saves the plate being scratched and soiled by handling, as only the letter-plate holder has to be fastened in the plate, instead of each letter, which may have to be put in and taken out several times before they are properly spaced and ready to be fastened in the plate.

I am also aware that prior to my invention there was an inscription or motto plate invented by myself and patented in the United States June 25, 1889, No. 405,809 and at present owned by myself.

My improved plate differs from the above, viz: The letters used are made on thin plates, having their ends bent down for the purpose of clasping around and underneath the letter-plate holder, while in the former plate the letter-case is bent upward and inward, leaving a groove in which to slide the blocks having letters on their face surface.

The advantages of my improved plate are, first, the greater ease in adjusting the letters while setting up the name; second, the letterplates, being clasped around and underneath the letter-plate holder, are each held firmly in their places and will not rattle and shake about like the letter-blocks in my former plate, which are slid into a letter-case that must have an opening or groove large enough to freely admit the letter-blocks, which will invariably be of different thickness.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

An inscription 0r motto plate consisting of a main frame having a depressed panel between two perpendicular slits, a letter-plate holder fitted in said panel having bent prongs at each end for securing to said frame, and letter-plates and blank plates bent down at top and bottom about said letter-plate holder, substantially as described.

CHARLES MARCUS UNDERWOOD.

Witnesses:

ANDREW S. DEVINE, ROBERT SEAL. 

